Fedora Weekly News Issue 286

Welcome to Fedora Weekly News Issue 286[1] for the three weeks ending September 21, 2011. What follows are some highlights from this issue.

In announcements this week, nominations for the release name for Fedora 17 is open; some changes to the packaging guidelines, and details on the Fedora 16 beta go/no go meeting. Fedora In the News this week provides one story, an article from LinuxInsider.com on comparing recent top linux distros, Fedora amongst them. In the Ambassadors beat this week, updates from the mailing list discussion and many Fedora related event reports. Security Advisories brings up current with security-related packages released since the last issue, and our issue wraps up with coverage of the Planet Fedora -- news and views from around the Fedora blogosphere. Enjoy!

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If you are interested in contributing to Fedora Weekly News, please see our 'join' page[3]. We welcome reader feedback: news@lists.fedoraproject.org

Fedora 17 Release Naming: Nominations are now open!

"It is once again time to choose the release name for the next Fedora
release. Potential names will be accepted for consideration beginning
September 13th (in other words, NOW) through September 20. Please
submit your best ideas to the Fedora wiki at the address below:

Please note that you *must* follow the instructions and guidelines at
the page listed above if you want your name to be considered. For
instance, there must be an "is-a" link between the name Verne (from
Fedora 16) and the name you suggest. That link must be different than
previous links for Fedora release names. Also, we ask that you please
conduct the required searches for brand and trademark names that might
cause us problems.

Read the full guidelines at the wiki page listed above, where you can
also find full schedule details for the release naming process.

For those of you interested in reviewing the history of Fedora release
names, there is an appropriately named wiki page for doing so at
[5]

Please try to pick a name that is fun and creative. Don't delay... do
it today! We all want an awesome name for Fedora 17!"

The prohibition against unnecessary explicit library requires has been
updated with an example of when explicit library requires are useful and
allowed. The example addresses packages that use features of a library
added after the library initially adopted its current SONAME.

These guidelines (and changes) were approved by the Fedora Packaging
Committee (FPC).

Many thanks to Kevin Fenzi, Adam Jackson, and all of the members of the
FPC, for assisting in drafting, refining, and passing these guidelines.

As a reminder: The Fedora Packaging Guidelines are living documents! If
you find something missing, incorrect, or in need of revision, you can
suggest a draft change. The procedure for this is documented here:
[6]

Fedora Events

The purpose of event is to build a global Fedora events calendar, and to identify responsible Ambassadors for each event. The event page is laid out by quarter and by region. Please maintain the layout, as it is crucial for budget planning.
Events can be added to this page whether or not they have an Ambassador owner. Events without an owner are not eligible for funding, but being listed allows any Ambassador to take ownership of the event and make it eligible for funding.
In plain words, Fedora events are the exclusive and source of marketing, learning and meeting all the fellow community people around you. So, please mark your agenda with the following events to consider attending or volunteering near you!

Which Linux Distro Leads the Pack? (linuxinsider.com)

"...how do Linux bloggers have fun? That's right, by engaging in a little high-spirited debate -- not of some weighty, industry-changing subject this time, though, but of a matter very close to all of our hearts. It's time, in other words, to ask the question once again: Which distro is best?

It is with deepest gratitude to the ever-awesome geeks over at TuxRadar that Linux Girl calls your attention, dear readers, to a wonderfully thorough side-by-side comparison they recently performed on six of today's most popular Linux distributions: Fedora, Mint, Arch, Ubuntu, Debian and OpenSUSE.

"Putting Fedora at the top of a 'best distributions' list is like putting a prototype car at the top of a list of cars to buy this year," Espinoza told Linux Girl.

"Fedora is the alpha test version for RHEL," he explained. "They break things there first. You'd have to be a nut to run it on a production system (though apparently, many people do) because the entire purpose of Fedora is to permit Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) to try new things and break stuff."

Discussion on the Fedora marketing list continued, wondering when the mis-perception that Fedora is primarily a development path for Red Hat Enterprise Linux would end[2][3]

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